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DoubleTwist, maker of the popular eponymous music player software, has teamed up with chip maker Qualcomm in an attempt to make wireless streaming easier for Android users. The fruit of their collaboration is dubbed MagicPlay, a new open-source wireless streaming platform that the two companies hope OEMs will integrate into present and future devices.

Built atop Qualcomm's already existing AllJoyn platform, DoubleTwist's MagicPlay can stream to wireless speakers, headphones, televisions, and other devices. Since MagicPlay is open-source, any number of devices or apps could potentially integrate its code and stream to hardware that has a Qualcomm chip and AllJoyn running inside.

While some might be quick to call MagicPlay a sort of "AirPlay killer" the title might be a bit presumptuous, considering how little we've heard about the new platform's adoption.

Also worth considering is the fact that this functionality seems like it would be at odds with the already widely used Bluetooth protocol. Only time will tell if MagicPlay does, in fact, change the way Android users wirelessly connect hardware components.

This week, attendees at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, can get a look at MagicPlay, courtesy of DoubleTwist and Qualcomm.

According to the companies, DoubleTwist will begin to integrate MagicPlay into its Android app this spring, and the MagicPlay source code will become available to third-party developers in the third quarter of this year.

About the author

Jaymar Cabebe covers mobile apps and Windows software for CNET. While he may be a former host of the Android Atlas Weekly podcast, he doesn't hate iOS or Mac. Jaymar has worked in online media since 2007.
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